Electric socket contacts and electriccircuit selectors using such contacts



Oct. 13, 1964 United States Patent The invention relates to electric socket contacts which are particulanly suited for useinelectric-circuit selectors stricted to-this use: of the contacts.

The kind of electric-circuitselector is that having at least two sets of-socket contactsarranged in substantially parallel rows, the rows of one :set of contacts overlying and crossing the'rows of the-other set with the sockets of -the1two-sets aligned in pairs one over the other at the I positions :of intersection of the rows and at'le'ast one of the sockets of each pair being formed as a throughway whereby selected socket-contacts of one set may be electrically connected with the socket contacts of the other -set which are aligned therewith, by the insertion ofcon- -necting pins through the socketcontacts with throughways 'into the contacts aligned therewith, The contacts, or some of them, in each row or atleast some of the rows, may be electrically connected togetherand have a common meansofconnection :to an external circuit. construction .of such a-selector and =its mode of use are described in US. :Patent No. 3,027,534, issued March 27, 1962,10 Deakin.

The invention provides anelectricsocket contact comiprising a resilient stripofmetal bent to U-formfor recepgtion between the arms of the U of a contact pin, the arms being resiliently movable away from one another to provide contact pressure onthe pin, and having a slot which extends across the base ofthe U and up into the lower ipartsof the-arms whereby-the base and lower arm parts are divided .into two portions which may be resiliently compressed :together and then reeseparate, in a direction perpendicula'r'to thatio'fthe aforesaidresilient movement -of1the arm.

Preferably the said lower arm parts are formed with zsteps .ior iprojections spaced apart along their length, at

:least .the projection or .projections nearer to the base ex :tending fromthe arms in the direction of re-separation aforesaid.

1A .socket constructed according. to the invention may she-attached to afsupport panel or base by compressing ithe two'portions' aforesaid :into a :hole in the panel or base. When the aforesaidpreferred 'form is employed the :two portions may be compressed 1 together so that v the projections nearer to the base may: be passed through the hole and on re-separation will engagebehind'the panel JWhjQhiiS then held betweenithe spacedprojections. g

The invention includes the combination of a socket and panel orbase constructed .andsecuredtogether as fjustldescribed. lnthis combination=the panelmay have rows of such contacts forming-one set :of the contacts of.

,aselector ofthe above kind.

Thestrip maybe cranked orga'Q gledrtotormsthe steps or projections further from the base. i

.- Thebase-of the contact, which may-befiat, may have act thefollowingkind although the invention is not re- Y vsecting the slot.

panel with contacts in place,

3,152,84 Patented Oct. 13 1964 .a central hole :for passageof a contact pin, the hole inter- There may also be a connection tag extending from the base, fe.g. from an edge thereof. i The contacts are preferably formed individually but they may be formed as a continuous row, the arms of adjacent contacts being interconnected by tongues.

Some specific constructions of individual contacts and assemblies employing such contacts will now be described,

by way of example and with reference to the;accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE Us a front view of one form of contact, FIGURE 2'is a side View of the contact, FIGURE 3 is an under plan ofjthe contact, FIGURE 4 is an under view of a portion of a contact FIGURE 5 is a view, similar to FIGURE 1, showing :another form-of the contact,

FIGURE 6 is a view, also'similar to FIGURE 1, showing a'third form of contact,

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the cont-act of FIGURE 6 ,in a support plate, and

"FIGURE 8 isa perspective view showing a contact in .place in a metal support plate with an insulating cover.

Each form ofcontact is constructed from beryllium copper strip bent to U-form, the arms of the U-fo'rm being brought together, near the mouth, toprovide contact surfaces :to engage a contact pin inserted between them One the passage of a round contact-pin.

Referring firstto FIGURES 13,-the arms\.'itl of the :U-form are each \joggled outwardly at 11, to provide an external step facing towards 'the base -12,which,is.flat. Extending across the base :12 from one arm to the other and also about two-thirds of the way up each arm there .is aslot '14 of appreciable width, the width being greater above the steps than it is below these steps. The slot divides :the base and the lower two-thirds of each arm int0-t-Wo:portions which canberesiliently compressed towards each other in a direction at right-angles to the resilient movements ofthe free ends ltiaof the arms to .receive a contactpin.

Each arm is reduced in width, at 15, between the step and thebase toleave, at each side edge, a lateral projection 16 at the step and another lateral projection 17, ad- .jacent the'base. ,by means of ribs or depressions 18 pressed therein;

These portions of the arms are stiffened pressing the base and armfportions together, .passingthe portions through a square or rectangular hole'in thepanel .from one face of the panel until the end projections 17 ,are beyond the other face and then-releasing the com- .pressed portions so'that theyseparate andthe projections .17 engage behind the'saidother face, the hole being'of appropriate size. The steps 11 and projections 16 remote from the base then rest against the saidone-face of the panel and the panel is securely held between the two sets of projections. The hole is a close fit aroundxthe lowergparts of the arms so-that resilient contact'pressure on .a-contactpin is derived mainly from theupper parts of thearnis and thejoggledportions.

In a complete assembly (see FlGURE 4) of a set of contacts for a circuit selector of the kind described, there are individual contacts as above arranged in rows on a panel 21 and the contact tags 2t), which project at the said other face ofthe panel, are connected to metal strips or wires 24-. The'tags'lil of a row of contacts may all be at the same side of a row, as in row A, in which case they may all be solderedto a common wire or they may lie some at one side and some at the other, as in row B,

and connected respectively to two wires.

When, as is preferred, the hole in the panel is square and the co-operating portion of the contact is also of squareoutline, the contact may be inserted in any one of 7 four attitudes, FIGURE 4 shows, in row B and at C,

contacts in three of the attitudes. If desired and where connections can conveniently be made (eg. at the outer rows of a selector" panel) the connection tags 26 may bebent to extend from the same face of the panel as do the contact arms (see FIGURE 6).

in the example describedabove, the arrangement is that the contact is inserted into the hole in the panel base first. In an alternativearrangement (see FIGURE 5) the contact is inserted mouth first. The contact construction is substantially as described above except that the" arms are not reduced in width asdescribed' (i.e. the parts 36, 31 of the arms have the same widths) and the projections 32, 33 are from the full width of the arms. Furthermore the projections 33 at the base, are provided by increasing the width of the base itself beyond that of the arms. With this arrangementthe contact may be inserted through a square or rectangular hole with the 'mouth 34 leading until the projections 32 contact the panel.

The base and arms portion is then compressed to allow these projections to pass through the hole, after which the portion is released. In a modification (PEG- URES 6 and 7), the parts, 35, of the arms between the projections are wider, than the'other parts 3t of the arms and the hole 36 in the panel has the form of across. Two opposed limbs 36a of the hole receive and closely embrace the edge portions of these parts of the arms,'

having parallel rows of square holes 41. Along each row there is a strip 42 of deformable insulating material (e.g. polythene). These strips may be constructed separately or united to form a sheet. In another arrangement the strip is cut into sections, one for each hole in the plate 49.

ing material which enters into the hole. is a ledge or bridge 44 which seats on the upper face of the plate and engaging against the lower face of the plate there are tongues or lips 45 on at least two sides of the portions 43 andfit may be, on each side. The square .50 For each hole 41 there is a square portion 43 of insulat- At the top'there portions have throughways 46 for reception of the contacts 48, one in each throughway. These contacts are as shown in FIGURES 1-3 except that the portions 47 are lengthened to accommodate the additional thickness of the strips 42. 1111' the assembly, the insulating material is first attached to the plate, the squareportions 43 being inserted into the holes 4-31. During this operation the tongues 45 and their supporting sides are compressed inwardly and re-expand beneath the plate to retain the insulation in place. holes 46 and have the effect of locking the insulation in place by preventing compression of the sides carrying the tongues. 1

I claim:

1-. The combination of (a) a support panel having a through hole therein, and A The contacts are then inserted into the.

two arms upstanding therefrom to receive a contact (c) the arms being resiliently movable away from one another to provide contact pressure on said contact (d) the U-shaped contact having a slot which extends across the base and up into the lower parts of the arms, whereby the base and the lower arm parts are divided into two portions which may be resiliently compressed together and then re-separ-ate, in a directionperpendicular to the aforesaid resilient movement of the arms,

(e) projections extending laterally from the lower parts of the arms and which engage the upper and lower faces of said panel,

(f) the arm portions above said lower parts being upstanding from the panel and providing the contact surfaces for engaging a pin.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the strip is joggled to form at :least'one of "the projections.

3. A contact as claimed in claim 1 in which the base of the U-shape has a hole for passage of the contact pin, the hole intersecting the slot.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which a connection tag extends from the base of the U-shape.

5.. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the panel comprises a me-talplate and the hole is lined with a bushing of insulating material;

6. The combination as claimedin claim 5 in which the bushing is of deformable material and has projections engaging opposite faces of the metal plate, inward deformationof the bushing being necessary for disengagement of the projections and in which the lower portion of the arms of the contacts engage the sides of the bushing internally and support the bushing against such deformation.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 6 in which there are a plurality of contacts and bushings in a row and the bushings are united as a'row.

8. The combination of I I (a). a support panel having a through hole therein, and

(12). an electric socket contact comprising a resilient strip of metal bent to U-form and providing a base and two arms upstanding therefrom for reception between the arms of a contact pin,

(0) the arms being, resiliently movable away from one another to provide. contact pressure on said contact (d) the U-form contact having a slot which extends across the base and up into the lower paths of the two arms and stopping shortof the free ends of the arms, whereby, the base and lower arm parts are divided into two portions which may be resiliently compressed together and then re-separate, in a direction perpendicular to the aforesaid resilient movement of the arms,

(e) projections on the lowerparts of the arms spaced apartalong the length ofthe parts with at least the projection nearer to the base extendingfrom the arms in the direction of rte-separation thereof,

(1) said lower arm parts passingthrough and closely fitting the hole in the panel with the spaced apart projections engaging the opposite faces of the panel to hold the contact on the panel,

(g) the arm portions above said lower parts being upstanding from the panel and providing the contact surfaces for engaging a pin.

9.,Anelectric socket contact for mounting in a panel opening and comprising I (a) a resilient strip of metal bent to U-form and providing'a base and two arms upstanding therefrom to receive a contact pin, 1

(b) the arms being resiliently movable away from one another to provide contact pressure on said contact (c) the U-form contact having a slot which extends References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Pattison May 12, 1931 Flora Feb. 7, 1950 Eannarino Feb. 26, 1957 Slack June 2, 1959 Hoberg et al. Jan. 19, 1960 Watts May 31, 1960 Deakin Mar. 27, 1962 

9. AN ELECTRIC SOCKET CONTACT FOR MOUNTING IN A PANEL OPENING AND COMPRISING (A) A RESILIENT STRIP OF METAL BENT TO U-FORM AND PROVIDING A BASE AND TWO ARMS UPSTANDING THEREFROM TO RECEIVE A CONTACT PIN, (B) THE ARMS BEING RESILIENTLY MOVABLE AWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER TO PROVIDE CONTACT PRESSURE ON SAID CONTACT PIN, (C) THE U-FORM CONTACT HAVING A SLOT WHICH EXTENDS ACROSS THE BASE AND UP INTO THE LOWER PARTS OF THE ARMS, WHEREBY THE BASE AND LOWER ARM PARTS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO PORTIONS WHICH MAY BE RESILIENTLY COMPRESSED TOGETHER AND THEN RE-SEPARATE, IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE AFORESAID RESILIENT MOVEMENT OF THE ARMS, (D) SPACED PROJECTIONS EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY FROM THE LOWER PARTS OF THE ARM TO ENGAGE THE UPPER AND LOWER FACES OF THE PANEL TO HOLD THE CONTACT ON THE PANEL, (E) THE ARM PORTIONS ABOVE SAID LOWER PARTS PROVIDING THE CONTACT SURFACES FOR ENGAGING A PIN. 